preventing sub cone/surround from cracking

[M@nJo 10+ year member]

i have some 2002 model solobarics and im wanting to clean it up. it looks like the surround is gonna dry up anytime soon eventually. what can i use on the sub cone and surround to prevent the surround from cracking in the future? are their any materials on the market that specify on this issue?

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[Beat_Dominator 5,000+ posts]

Hmmm, you may look into automotive rubber protection/rejuvination products?

I'm not aware of anything specifically for speakers.

 

[Shinobi 10+ year member]

Uncle of mine had 2 15's long time ago he put a very light coat of vasoline on his surrounds LOL. Personally I'll never put anything on mine.

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

This has been discussed before. There is no such specific product on the market that I know of. I would advise against such materials as automotive protectants as many of them are considered 'addictive' (stop using them and the rubber dries out very fast) while something like a vaseline seems like it would affect compliance, perhaps even the moving mass a bit, and what happens when it dries up? Most car audio woofers these days are build rugged for the difficult lifestyle of a speaker in a car (as compared to home audio). If its a quality woofer (and Kickers are), the main thing you should do to prolong surround life is to not mount in a position that will have it get alot of direct sun light every day. Just keep using them, a Kicker woofer should last for years if its not abused. I have subs sitting around here Ive owned 10 years or more, no surround rot here. So there's absolutely no reason a 2002 model Kicker sub should have any problems any time soon.

 

[M@nJo 10+ year member]

thats a relief to hear. my subs never sit in the sunlight, in a closed trunk all day.